NEW YORK - A Major League Soccer Select Team will face nine-time European champions Real Madrid for the 27th edition of the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on August 23. The MLS Select Team will be the first American squad to play for the trophy in the history of the competition, which also marks Real Madrid's first game of the new season in front of its home fans at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid. The players and coaching staff of the MLS Select Team will be announced at a later date.

The announcement of the match follows a recently concluded two-game U.S. tour by Real Madrid in which the legendary club defeated Chivas Guadalajara 3-1 in Chicago (July 16) and overcame the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 in its first ever match against an MLS team (July 18). The 2005 U.S. tour was Real Madrid's first multi-game tour in the United States since 1990.

"The level of play in MLS continues to improve every year and has driven the U.S. National Team to its current 6th place FIFA world ranking," said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. "In order to continue our rapid development, it is important that we test ourselves against the world's best. It is a tremendous honor to be invited to take part in this prestigious game and we look forward to a very competitive match."

First held in 1979 in honor of the club's legendary former president for whom the team's stadium is also named, the trophy is contested in what has traditionally become the final international match played by Real Madrid prior to the start of the team's domestic season. Among the legendary teams to have competed in the prestigious event's history are Liverpool (England), A.C. Milan (Italy), Inter Milan (Italy), River Plate (Argentina), Ajax Amsterdam (Holland), Santos (Brazil) and Benfica (Portugal).